Basketball Referee

Basketball Referee

Rndballref

20 Years Experience

Chicago, IL

Male, 60

For twenty years I officiated high school, AAU and park district basketball games, retiring recently. For a few officiating is the focus of their occupation, while for most working as an umpire or basketball referee is an avocation. I started ref'ing to earn beer money during college, but it became a great way to stay connected to the best sports game in the universe. As a spinoff, I wrote a sports-thriller novel loosely based on my referee experiences titled, Advantage Disadvantage

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

If a player gets called for an over the back foul (1 and 1) and the player then proceeds to get a tech...How do you deal with the 1 and 1 and 2 shots and ball?

Asked by Brad almost 10 years ago

Just a quick point of order, there is no such foul in the rule book called "over the back". For example a player could jump up. reach over an opponent from behind and as long as there is no contact, there is no foul.

At any rate, referees are taught to administer fouls in the order they occurred. So in your scenario, clear the lane and shoot the 1 and 1. Then shoot the 2 technicals, and award the ball at half court.  

If these fouls occurred in the opposite order you would only shoot the technicals, because common, unintentional fouls are ignored if they occur during a dead ball.

That seems to be the generic answer to the slamming/spiking the ball issue. So shouldn't it state this in the rule book? Otherwise, I agree, it could be used arbitrarily by some less than idea ref to punish one team over another.

Asked by Daniel over 9 years ago

The rule book does not spell out all the ways of committing a technical foul. I believe that working your way up through ranks sifts out most referees with poor judgement and thin skin, not always but at most levels it is so competitive that the better officials tend to move forward and ref the better games. That is how the system cultivates good judgement - and I'll admit there are officials who come in with a chip on their shoulders and stretch their judgement unfairly against a team or player, but it is the assignment chairman's job to weed out these kind of officials.

Can a ref officially end a game before time has expired - say in the event of an uncontrolled crowd or team?

Asked by DB over 9 years ago

Yes. If a referee deems conditions unsafe for players, spectators or officials he should notify home management that the refs can no longer work under current conditions. Without refs the game should not be played.

high school Player A picks up his dribble and looks to pass. ball gets slapped out of his hands by defender and the ball pops in the air. Player A grabs the ball out of the air. is player A allowed to dribble?

Asked by midd44 about 10 years ago

Yes, player A lost control of the ball caused by the defender. There is no provision which states the ball must hit the floor after being batted away before recovering. So, yes A can dribble again.

Is it acceptable to hand the ball to an inbounder rather than passing the ball to an inbounder?

Asked by Cholly almost 10 years ago

yes, unless the mechanics have changed in the past couple years, we were required to hand the ball to the in bounders on end line throw-ins. There is an advantage of bouncing the call to the in bounder on the sidelines because it allows the on-ball referee administering the throw in to step back and take a wider view (while he counts the 5 seconds).

What is considered a pass to yourself? If I am in the triple threat position and have not dribbled how far does a ball have to go in the air to be considered an illegal pass to myself?

Asked by Doug over 8 years ago

There is no distance specified in the rule book.

Thank you sir

Asked by Casey almost 10 years ago

you are quite welcome!